3rd Spirit, Soul, Body (7)
2004-11-28 | Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee | 1 John 2:24-25, 2:15-16
In order for us to achieve the soul and body that belong to the spirit, we must give up the things of the flesh and the things of the flesh. Today I will testify on how to get rid of these things quickly.
The sermon on the soul and body makes us realize deep things about the soul, soul, and body that cannot be understood by human knowledge and wisdom. Regarding the field of the flesh, which is visible to the eye, relatively much research has been done even with human knowledge, but it cannot be said that all the contents are correct. Moreover, no one can clearly explain the field of the invisible soul. But God, who created man’s soul and body, can provide accurate knowledge as much as he wants.
Then, what is the purpose of hearing the words of soul and body? The purpose of God’s cultivation of us on this earth is to change the soul and body of the flesh, which was corrupted by Adam’s sin, into the soul and body of the spirit. When we are completely transformed into people of the spirit, we not only enjoy great glory in heaven as children of God, but also receive answers and blessings on earth to give glory to God only.
In order to be transformed into spirit and body, we must first know how to create “flesh belonging to the spirit.” In this way, you must put off all the things of the flesh and the things of the flesh that are corrupt and degenerate in order to be transformed into a spiritual and holy body, a body that belongs to the spirit, which is beautiful in the sight of God.
1. The reason to put off the flesh and become a man of the spirit
At first, Adam was a spirit, soul and body, but by committing the sin of disobedience, he was transformed into a carnal soul and body. This is because they ate the forbidden fruit of the forbidden fruit.
Then, what is the reason that God has placed the tree of good and evil? This was so that after a person has experienced the flesh, he can be restored to spirit and body again. The spirit that does not know the flesh cannot be called a perfect spirit, so it was to make them know the relativity.
Before Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, he had never experienced pain, sorrow, or unhappiness. While enjoying all the good things in Eden, he couldn’t really feel happy. Therefore, even if we had soul and body belonging to the spirit, we could not become true children of God. In other words, only when you know the flesh and experience the things of the flesh, you can have true value as a spirit.
So, God placed the tree of knowledge in the providence of cultivation, and told him what kind of pain he would experience if he ate of it, and allowed Adam to choose his own free will. If Adam had been a man of spirit in the true sense, he would have realized how painful all the misfortunes that would come as a result of disobedience and how happy it was to obey God and would have been grateful. Therefore, no matter how greedy the tree of knowledge was, it would not have been eaten forever.
However, Adam, who had never experienced the flesh, had the possibility to accept the flesh with his free will and change himself, and in this state, he could not be called a perfect spiritual being. God wanted people of true spirit as spirits who experienced the flesh. He wanted true children who could share love without changing forever, expressing his heartfelt gratitude for God’s love. That is why God placed the tree of knowledge and allowed human cultivation.
Conversely, the flesh that does not know the Spirit is even more of no value. The purpose of God’s creation of man is to eventually obtain true children who belong to the spirit, because if we do not change into the spirit and remain in the flesh, we will live as slaves to sin regardless of God and eventually go to hell.
However, because God is love, he prepared the way of salvation through Jesus Christ before the ages for those who are heading to hell. If anyone accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior, the spirit of the dead comes to life and the spirit, the soul, and the body are all changed to belong to the spirit as much as the spirit is begotten day by day, that is, to the extent that they depart from the flesh.
So, how should we live our life of faith? Attending various worship services, studying the Bible, and receiving the duties of an elder, a priest, a deacon, a district manager, a teacher, and a choir does not mean that you are good at living a religious life. Participation in worship and loyalty are important, but the most essential part of our religious life is to put off the work of the flesh and the work of the flesh and move on to holiness.
No matter how long you attend church and fulfill your duties, if you still remain in the flesh without abandoning your sins, you are far from God’s purpose for cultivating humans. God did not give his precious only begotten Son to death on the cross in order to gain the fleshly man. Therefore, when we truly realize the purpose of human cultivation, why we live and why we are cultivated, we will be eager to cast off our flesh.
2. We must cast away the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life
God created man as a living spirit and filled him with the contents of the spirit. For example, truth, love, gentleness, peace, and service were taught and filled our hearts with the knowledge of these truths.
However, after Adam sinned and the spirit died, the enemy devil and Satan, who is the ruler of this world, instilled knowledge of untruth in man, that is, the contents of the flesh. As much as hatred, envy, jealousy, blood, greed, and adultery were planted in the heart, the contents of the spirit that God had planted gradually drained away. As we live in the fleshly world that the enemy devil and Satan have taken over, as the years go by, more and more of the fleshly contents are being filled in people.
In this text, things from this world, that is, the contents of the flesh, are divided into three areas and explained. They are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. In order to cast off the flesh, we first need to know what these three fields are, and to realize in our hearts how ugly, dirty, and harmful they are. And you just have to know how to throw it away and do it as it is.
First, let’s look at “the lusts of the flesh.” The lusts of the flesh are the desire to follow the attributes of the flesh. It is said that the flesh is the union of the human body and the sinful nature. Here, the body refers to the flesh that is left behind after the knowledge of the spirit that God planted in man after Adam sinned away.
To put it simply, the sinful nature is combined in the heart of a man who has fallen into the flesh, and he is in a state of embracing all kinds of untruths. Hatred, bloodlust, greed, lust, envy, and pride are full of these attributes in a person. As a result, they want to see, hear, think, and act according to the desires of the evil heart within themselves.
For example, if you have the attribute of judgment and condemnation in yourself, you not only enjoy hearing other people’s rumors, but you also find it fun to hear them and move around and gossip. If you do not want to follow the lusts of the flesh, if you do not listen and do not preach, you will have an itchy mouth and moth. If you have blood in your heart, it feels refreshing and cool to vent your anger when something bad happens. If you endure anger and do not follow the attributes of the flesh, your heart boils and it is very painful. Because they are arrogant, they want to be served according to their arrogant attributes, and they want to show off their pride. Because of their covetousness, they try to accumulate unrighteous wealth even by harming others.
Then, what is the benefit of walking according to the things of the flesh? It brings suffering not only to oneself, but also to the ambiguous people around, family, and loved ones. Some even lead to death for themselves and those around them. In addition, there are difficulties in business and workplaces, and people are put to shame in front of them.
The biggest problem is the fact that if you do this kind of evil, you will eventually go to spiritual death, that is, hell. Still, there are many believers who do not try to forsake these ugly and evil sins. Clearly, there are many people who do not even feel guilty about themselves even though they are doing evil. This is because man is born and lives in sin, so accustomed to it, and because his conscience is defiled.
A person is born with original sin from birth and inherits the sins of his parents in his ki. Also, most of the things we see, hear and learn while growing up are untruthful knowledge. For example, if a child comes home crying after being beaten by a friend, the parent will say, “Why are you being beaten like an idiot? If you get hit with one hit, even if you hit two, you shouldn’t look down on you.” and scold Then the children will say, “If you get hit, you’re doing it wrong, and if you hit it, it’s right.” and is entered.
In this way, from an early age, wrong knowledge of untruth is input as if it were correct knowledge. Just as unclean things cannot be seen in darkness, it is difficult to discern sin with a sin-stained heart in the world. However, if we learn the Word of God, who is the truth, we will be able to discern sin and cast away sins as if a bright light illuminates a dirty place.
Therefore, we must diligently read, listen to, and receive the teachings of God’s Word, and when we discover our own evil, we must pray and fast to throw it away. As in the past, even in situations that might provoke blood, we should be gentle and change our minds. If you fill your heart with spiritual things in this way, your body will drain out one by one.
Dear saints,
A person’s duty is to fear and love God, and a person’s worth is determined according to how much he has cast away the flesh and changed into a man of spirit (Ecclesiastes 12:13). If a man remains in the flesh, he cannot fulfill his duty as a man, and he has no value as a human being. A fleshly person who is worthless cannot enter the holy heaven, so he will eventually go to hell.
Therefore, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will clearly understand the purpose of cultivation and keep your duty in mind so that you will be transformed into valuable spiritual people and true children of God, and surely enter the beautiful kingdom of heaven and live near the throne of God the Father.
